Transcript

00:00:02

>> Vivid brushstrokes telling a dark story. Syrian children displaced by violence painting the lives they've grown up knowing. But is a shopping mall in China the right place to get their message across?>> I'm Anita Lee in Shanghai, where an organization called Chinese Initiative on International Law is using art made by young Syrian refugees to highlight the migrant crisis in Europe.

00:00:26

China wants to play greater role in global affairs, but it hasn't opened it's doors to a single middle Eastern refugee. Part of the problem here is it's out of sight, out of mind to many Chinese, that war-torn part of the world and its issues are simply too far away.

00:00:44

China may not have a shining record when it comes to refugees, but Amnesty International actually ranks it number one for welcoming them. Based on a survey asking people how willing they would be to embrace them. Exhibit Curator Liu Yiqiang says this could be down to a crucial misunderstanding.

00:01:03

>> The word refugee can be translated different ways in Chinese. The amnesty survey likely used a word that made people think of something like local victims of a flood, rather than people forced out of their country by war.>> A state media survey says less than 10% of Chinese people would welcome foreign refugees.

00:01:20

But really the numbers are irrelevant, because China actually has no legal framework to support them. It's an uphill battle, but Liu says using art is better than nothing.>> I don't have any real answers, I just hope what we're doing now will encourage more Chinese people to help a little.

00:01:37

And then maybe there will be a turning point in the crisis.>> Liu hopes to auction off the art and use the money to send Chinese volunteers to teach in Turkey, giving young Syrians there a shot at a brighter future.